Atlanta Falcons secondary banged-up but must rebound

Atlanta Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel was a late addition to the Week 4 NFL injury report with a thigh injury on Friday, and ended up missing the game against the New England Patriots, a game in which Tom Brady picked-apart the Falcons’ defense and left Atlanta licking their wounds with a 1-3 start to their season.

They’ll need to rebound this week if they want to have any hope of living up to their Super Bowl aspirations, and that begins Monday night against the New York Jets.

While the Jets’ passing offense has certainly been lacking, it still would be a welcome addition to have Samuel back in the lineup, but after he didn’t practice Monday, they may be willing to hold him out another week in give rookies Marcus Trufant and Robert McClain more playing time.

Trufant seems to have an advantage after growing up as the younger brother of Marcus Trufant, a free agent after playing 10 years with the Seattle Seahawks, and Isaiah Trufant, who played in nine games with one start for the New York Jets in 2012.

But McClain has shown a lot of promise as well, and with time, the Falcons secondary could go from being one of the weaker units currently in the league, to one of the better untis by season’s end.